Hey guys!! So I updated this fic last night, just as planned, and then spent one full day wondering why no lovely comments popped up from my awesome subbies. Then I tried editing the chapter, and what do I find? I'd clicked on hide chapter. Yes. You can kill me now. To those of you who went online and checked for the update, I'm terribly sorry *faceplams violently*.......

Enjoy!!!

When Myungsoo woke up in the morning, he’d expected to have Sungyeol’s fingers tangled in his hair again, like that night on the beach, or find Sungyeol falling off the bed or something goofy like that (it was Sungyeol after all). But the boy was nowhere to be seen again, and Myungsoo couldn’t help marveling at how early the boy got up each day. Still, seeing Sungyeol’s side of the bed empty made Myungsoo feel cold and abandoned, and Myungsoo hated himself for feeling that way, as if he was some puppy with separation anxiety. Myungsoo pushed the covers off, and dragged himself out of bed to wash up.

Myungsoo tried his very best not to care if Sungyeol had gone home without telling him.

Then he went out into the kitchen, and found Sungyeol there, gnawing on a sandwich, two slices of bread sloppily slapped together with oozing strawberry jam in between them. Sandwich clamped in his mouth, Sungyeol turned to pick up another ready-made sandwich lying on a plate next to him.

Myungsoo’s eyes widened at the second sandwich.

“How much do you normally eat in the morning?!” Myungsoo stared at Sungyeol as if he’d grown two heads.

Sungyeol laughed, and almost spewed half-chewed jam-and-bread on Myungsoo.

“It’s for you, silly.” Sungyeol handed it to him, and Myungsoo saw that it was every bit as jammy and messy as Sungyeol’s own. Myungsoo warmed up immediately, and Myungsoo hated himself for feeling that way, as if he was an affection-deprived child or something. Myungsoo took a big bite, and savoured the tangy sweetness of the jam.

“Thanks…” Myungsoo used his index finger to swipe the crumbs away from his lower lip, from when he’d crammed the food into his mouth. He stopped to give Sungyeol a quizzical look when the boy started fidgeting with his hand phone restlessly.

“It’s like this…” Sungyeol looked troubled, and Myungsoo’s thoughts immediately flew back to the guys chasing Sungyeol yesterday.

“Hmm?” Myungsoo’s voice was soft, encouraging.

“I like--” Sungyeol began again, and Myungsoo suddenly remembered Sungyeol’s kisses last night. The guy couldn’t be confessing to him, could he? Myungsoo’s heart did funny little flips that he tried to ignore.

“—Youngmi. A lot—“ Sungyeol went on, and Myungsoo’s heart sank to the soles of his feet.

“What?” Sungyeol had continued speaking, but Myungsoo didn’t want to hear the rest. Sungyeol liked someone else. Someone else.  Someone else.

Myungsoo repeated the line in his head, as if to convince himself. But it felt awful. Not, Myungsoo began to give himself excuses, because he liked the guy, but because he’d almost thought that he was the one being confessed to, and the shock was the sick feeling in his stomach.

“Could you come with me when I meet Youngmi today?” Sungyeol asked.

Myungsoo balked.

Sungyeol wanted to him to accompany him on a date? With the girl he liked? Was the guy insane?

“NO.” Myungsoo spoke the word with more force than necessary, and Sungyeol flinched visibly.

“You don’t like kids?”

At this, Myungsoo’s mouth hung even wider open, and his mind whirled. Kids?! Myungsoo’s mind stopped functioning properly. Sungyeol had (probably) just started dating this Youngmi (Myungsoo spoke the name bitterly in his mind), and he was already thinking about making kids with her? Ridiculous. This was just ridiculous. Myungsoo didn’t want to meet her. For some odd reason, he wanted to kill her.

“I’m not going Sungyeol…” He trailed off.

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"I'm never doing this again Sungyeol." Myungsoo grumbled, scuffing his foot moodily across the playground floor. At first, Myungsoo had resisted going with Sungyeol with all his might, but then Sungyeol had turned all puppy-eyed on him, and he just couldn't say no to him. He was curious anyway, about what kind of girl this Youngmi person that'd caught Sungyeol's eye.

Was she from Sungyeol's school? Myungsoo wondered how they'd met.

Was she cute? Or was she y, beautiful? Myungsoo wondered what Sungyeol's preference was. So, in the end, Myungsoo had grudgingly let himself be dragged along on Sungyeol's date. The more he wondered about the mystery girl, the more Myungsoo was curious about her. She seemed quite a weird person, Myungsoo concluded, staring across the monkey bars, where a few kids clambered and shrieked. Which girl would pick a playground as the meeting place for a date anyway?

Myungsoo turned to look at Sungyeol. The boy didn't look the least bit nervous at all--not anything like a boy on a first date. Perhaps the boy had gone on many dates already, and was an old hand at it? Maybe Sungyeol was a playboy? Myungsoo considered Sungyeol seriously, and continued even after the boy turned to give him a confused look.

"What?" Sungyeol glanced down at his clothes. "Do I look weird?"

Myungsoo shook his head, still trying to figure Sungyeol out. "How many girls have you dated?" He asked finally, giving up on detective work.

Sungyeol frowned in bewilderment. "None. I've not dated."

"Eyyy..." Myungsoo fanned a hand in the air, as if to swat away his answer. He shifted nearer, and leaned in, to convince Sungyeol to confide in him. No boy on the first date with a girl could look so calm and collected. He was going to continue with his questions, but Sungyeol suddenly straightened, and smiled, and waved. And ran towards a pretty woman.

Myungsoo scowled at her first, then noticed that she held the hand of a small girl. The child was too young to be the woman's sister, Myungsoo concluded after a brief observation. He watched Sungyeol chat and laugh with her. He watched Sungyeol fling an arm around her. Myungsoo's hand clenched into a tight fist.

This was Sungyeol's preference in women? Sungyeol liked the older type? But the woman had a child. Was she married? Myungsoo didn't think Sungyeol would date a married woman. So where did the child come from?

Myungsoo's stomach clenched.

Was she Sungyeol's child?!

Myungsoo turned to go--he didn't want to watch anymore. He'd done what Sungyeol had told him to do anyway--he'd accompanied Sungyeol all the way to the playground. He'd satisfied his own curiosity. Myungsoo had no reason to stay any longer. He didn't want to meet Youngmi.

“Yah! Myungsoo!” Sungyeol’s shout stopped Myungsoo in his tracks. He turned, scowled at the floor, and dragged his feet back to where Sungyeol was waving him over. The woman and child smiled at Myungsoo. Myungsoo looked away awkwardly. Sungyeol flung an arm around Myungsoo.

“Guys, this is Myungsoo...” He smiled, and waited for Myungsoo to nod, or wave, or shake hands with the woman, but the boy didn’t make a move.

“…And he’s awfully shy today…” Sungyeol’s bony elbow jabbed him in the ribs, and Myungsoo reluctantly looked up, and smiled half-heartedly at the woman. “He’s usually so hyper, and grouchy, and last night—“

Myungsoo’s heartbeat sped up at the mention of last night. Sungyeol couldn’t possibly be about to tell his date about the kisses he’d landed on Myungsoo’s cheek, right?! Before Myungsoo could cover his mouth, and smother any words threatening to fall out of his mouth, Sungyeol went on:

“He tried to kill me with a kitchen knife.” Sungyeol concluded his impromptu introduction of him to the female companions, and Myungsoo heaved a sigh of relief. “He’s going to tag along with us for the rest of today.” Sungyeol said with finality, and Myungsoo glared daggers at the back of Sungyeol’s head for coming up with a promise Myungsoo hadn’t remembered making.

The woman laughed uncomfortably, and filled the silence that was beginning to stretch after Sungyeol’s little speech about him. Myungsoo was actually pretty impressed by this, to be honest, because at least the woman tried to alleviate the awkwardness that was practically tangible in the air.

The woman glanced at her watch, and her doe eyes widened. “I really need to be going now!” She turned to leave, then looked over her shoulder at Myungsoo. “Nice meeting you!” She called, waving at Myungsoo who only stared back confusedly. He watched with a frown as she disappeared down the corner.

“Where’s Youngmi going?” He asked, turning to Sungyeol, who had bent down, and taken the small girl’s hand. Both of them looked confused by his question.

“What?” Sungyeol tilted his head. “She’s coming with us, remember?”

Myungsoo jutted his chin at where the woman had disappeared. “She left.”

Something tugged gently at the hem of his coat. Myungsoo looked down. The little girl released her hold on his clothes, and smiled brightly at him, gesturing to herself.

“Oppa! I’m right here!”

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My apologies about the shorter chappie this time..... And any typos/stuff that doesn't make sense. I wrote this right after an overnight flight.... *collapses and sleeps for the rest of the day*

Next update will either be in a few hours' time, or next morning: depends how fast I write :D